Devices of the aforementioned type generally have a plate able to hold a weight, a measurement device present on the plate comprising a means of display to display the measured weight, and means of control or adjustment.
When using such an apparatus, it becomes necessary to use a container designed to hold the ingredient(s) or article(s) being weighed so that they do not make direct contact with the plate for reasons of hygiene, practicality, and cleanliness. This is particularly necessary when the ingredient being weighed is in bulk form and not easy to maintain on the plate. For example, it might be solid ingredients such as flour, powdered sugar or pieces of sugar, or liquid ingredients . . . . In this case, said container is weighed at the same time as the foodstuff and the displaying of the result takes into account a subtraction of the weight of the container. The container is often removable from the weighing apparatus to facilitate the cleaning of the container and the transporting of the food being weighed.
There are many products on the market involving a food scale with a removable container. However, without any means of attachment, the apparatus has to remain in the position of use, that is, horizontal, to maintain the container in place by gravity even when not being used. It is not possible to stow the scale away with the container attached in a position other than the position of use, for example, to hang it against a wall. Thus, this type of apparatus has the drawback of a lack of ease of stowage.